What does the 14th February mean to you?
To me, the most important meaning is my Mum’s birthday
To most it’s about celebrating love, but as I have learnt from my best friend it can be celebrating the love with anyone, your sister, friend, son, daughter……
To Kris Carr it will be about celebrating still being around after 10 years since her diagnosis of an incurable cancer
Or will it?
I was thinking about my own diagnosis anniversary (which is in August) this year it will be 3 years
Sometimes it feels like a whole lot longer, I’ve been through so much, also achieved so much.
Now, instead of thinking “I must get to 3 years, 5 years, 20 years” it’s about what you make of the time.

So, I’m not perfect and I do get annoyed with my 3 year old when she won’t get dressed on time for us to get to preschool (although I know that it’s our fault for not getting starting earlier)
Anyone who knows me well will know that I can be , let’s say a little fiery at time (I’m am a Leo !)
But over the past three years I’ve learnt ever so slowly to be more present and not get so frustrated so quickly , it is working , honest Mum!!

Last week saw many people, including me, say goodbye to a beautiful soul in Australia, she was my age with a daughter a little older than mine. This is what came to mind “it’s not the length of the journey that matters, it’s how many lives you touch and wondrous sites you see along the way”
I read some amazing comments on her Facebook wall and was totally taken aback by the love from all over the world , love also to her partner and young daughter.

Perhaps you could think of giving yourself some love? That could take the form of a candlelit bath, a fresh green juice, a walk in nature, basically whatever floats your boat and just involves you
Just for an hour or two take other people’s needs into consideration, something us females can struggle with especially when there’s a partner and or kids to think about.

What I’d love to know is how you will celebrate Valentines Day, and what brings you back to the here and now, is it love, gratitude? Please let me know in the comments below….

You can read about Kris Carr here

I’ve got my family, my beautiful monkey of a daughter so I don’t need my ovaries for any more baby making.
Besides I’ve always thought that having a hormonal based cancer it would be pretty daft for me to have another pregnancy, lucky for me that David and I only ever wanted one child.

This is what I had needed my ovaries for – Yes that is me!

I then gave some thought to the bigger and more holistic picture.

I have talked this over with my family, acupuncturist and my holistic guru. We discussed the operation to remove a part of me, a very important feminine part of me in opposition to having a chemical change to my body every month in the form of a estrogen blocker. I have chosen to relinquish the chemical change in favour of the surgical option.

So in a few days time I’m having a bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy which in plain english means I’m having my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed with a keyhole surgical procedure.

I’m having this done as my cancer is estrogen positive.

Every four weeks since my diagnosis I’m at the doctors having an implant through a rather large needle in my lower stomach.

This implant “Zoladex” chemically switches off the neurotransmitter to produce estrogen in my body, therefore not “fueling” the cancer.

After I have had the ovaries removed I will no longer have to have the implants, which after 2 1/2 years will be a welcome relief.

A quick note to anyone who is having these implants, don’t be tough like I used to be, ask for some anesthetic cream (Emla or Ametop) which you put on the area about an hour before you are injected – it really helps.

Never one to relinquish complete control to others, here are the proactive steps I will be taking before my operation:

Under the guidance of Patricia Peat (Cancer Options) I am cutting back my liposomal Vitamin C from 14 teaspoons a day to just 3 teaspoons for the 7 days before my surgery and 14 days afterwards.

As there can be a “Potential problem of high dose Vit c interfering with blood clotting,this is observed in people with warfarin but obviously need to take care. There is also regular use of blood thinners now with most ops where people are going to be in hospital for a few days. Doses of three grams and less will not interfere but will aid wound healing and hopefully help prevent catching any bugs.“

I will also be taking a zinc supplement

to help healing.

I will be taking the homeopathic remedy Arnica to help bring any internal bruising out quicker.

Some of my supplements will also be stopped prior to the operation in case they cause further blood thinning therefore preventing clotting.

For the three days before my operation I will go on a juice fast, mainly green vegetables with some cancer busting pomegranate and apple added in.

I’m going on the juice fast for three reasons, firstly it will give my digestive system a break and clear out any unwanted stuff (I’ll also do a coffee enema after day one)

Secondly doing this cleanse will hopefully mean I won’t be taking any medication to do the same job!

Thirdly going on a fast, even with some fresh vegetable juices may help to lower my IGF-1 (insulin growth factor) which may be found to increase cancer cell growth. http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/92/18/1472.abstract

In those three days prior to the operation I will also be using EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to banish any fears I may have (there are none at the moment!) and also to “tap” for a successful operation and recovery.

In the weeks after the operation I have appointments to see my acupuncturist and holistic guru to get rebalanced and realigned

I will let you know how it goes in a couple of weeks time, if you have any additional suggestions for me or anyone else about to have an operation, please let us know in the comments below.

I am in the envious (?) position that friends family and readers of this blog say how positive I am.
They also say they don’t know how I do it, that they don’t know if they could do the same.
My reply:
1. 98% of the time I am positive and more importantly filled with HOPE for everything in life
The 2% remaining can be very dark, scary and include lots of tears (which on a positive note are a release of toxins)
I believe that having these horrendous times are actually invaluable to healing.
2. For me, there is no other option.

It’s taken me the past two and a half years since diagosis to get to this point.
It certainly wasn’t like this in the early days of diagnosis.
It may change over time but I know I will welcome it and deal with it at the time.

I would like to share with you some ways I’ve got to my emotional (mostly balanced) state;
This week its my cancer curfew.

On first being diagnosed our family found that we were talking about nothing else other than cancer, especially in the evenings after our daughter had gone to bed. It was the conversation over the dinner table and beyond…..
You know if you watch a scary movie just before going to bed you can have some pretty strange dreams/nightmares, well this was happening not just to me but also to David, my husband.
We soon realised how detrimental this was and came up with a “cancer curfew”.

After 8pm there was to be no cancer related talk , it took a while for us to integrate this and we all had to pull each other up for slipping off the wagon but it helped so much in those early days.
We had stopped watching TV shortly after my diagnosis so what to do instead?
We talked about our daughter, what friends were upto, watched comedy films, read a lot more (I mostly read chic-lit books back then – not wanting anything too heavy on the brain!)

Nowadays we are not so strict, but then again the conversation is much more about health rather than disease.

Having a cancer diagnosis throws everything in the air that you have ever believed and it takes time to readjust.
I am permanently readjusting – that is my new normal.

Let me know in the comments below how you get positive and have hope, or email me verityslifestyle (at) gmail dot com

Enjoying some bracing sea air this Christmas with my Dad & my Daughter helps clear the negative cobwebs

Cranberry cinnamon brownies

Organic ingredients please!

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees
Ovenproof dish approx 21 cm x 29cm x 5cm(I use a Le Creuset baking dish)

50g of organic 80% cocoa dark chocolate broken into pieces.
2 tbs coconut oil
1 tbs blackstrap molasses
1/3 cup cranberries soaked a mug green tea for 20 mins
5 Medjool Dates de-stoned and finely chopped (soak with the cranberries)
1 1/4 cups whole almonds – ground in food processor
1/3 cup raw cacao nibs – finely ground (I use a coffee grinder, or buy them pre-ground)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 free range egg, lightly beaten

Set a pan with a couple of inches of boiling water with a heatproof glass bowl over (Bain-Marie)
Add the chocolate, molasses and coconut oil into the bowl- allow to melt.

Take the bowl off the heat, add the cranberries and dates, mix well.

Now stir in the ground almonds, Cacao powder, baking powder, walnuts and cinnamon.
Finally stir in the lightly beaten egg.

Spoon into a ovenproof dish (approx 21x29cmx5cm such as Le Creuset) lined with baking paper
Cook for 30-35 minutes at 160 degrees.

Optional – sprinkle some more Cranberries on the still warm mixture and slightly press down into brownies
Take out of the oven let it cool completely before you cut into squares – Eat, enjoy!

No? ok, well they contain lots of amazing phytonutrients to combat inflammation and cholesterol.
Vitamin K & C as well as fab anti-oxidants.
Not to mention their ability to help prevent cancer……find out more here

Heres one of my favourite ways to serve Brussels – its super-charged superfood time

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 fat garlic cloves, squashed ten minutes before cooking to release their best potential

1/2 cup quinoa
2 cups Brussels, peeled,  sliced in half and bases cut off
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
1 small red onion thinly sliced
1 large red chilli, finely chopped
2 tablespoons goji berries (or sultanas if you’re my husband : )

In the pan of a steamer place the quinoa and 1 1/2 cups of water, boil for 5 minutes
In the steamer section add the Brussels and steam over the quinoa for 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat and remove the lid of the steamer, drain the quinoa.

Melt the coconut oil in a deep frying pan or wok, add the onions and gently fry for a few minutes til translucent.

Finely chop the garlic and add to the pan along with the Brussels, stir for a few minutes.

Finally add the quinoa and chilli and mix for 30 seconds.

Serve on warm plates and sprinkle over the goji berries (or sultanas)

Ingredients:
12 medjool dates – remove stones, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
Flesh of 2 ripe avocados
3 tbs raw cacao powder
2 tbs melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Finely chopped Pecan nuts for coating (approx 1/2 cup)
Raw cacao for coating (approx 1 tablespoon)

Petit four cases

In a food processor blend the dates (not the water) into a paste
Add the avocados, cacao powder, coconut oil and cinnamon
Blend well in the food processor until you can no longer see the avocado and the mixture is smooth.
Place in the fridge.
Remove from the fridge an hour later

On plates add finely chopped pecan nuts and raw cacao powder separately
With damp hands scoop a good heaped teaspoon size blob of truffle into your hands and lightly roll in between your palms until you have a round ball.
Lightly roll around in either the cacao powder or nuts.
Place in a petit four case
Repeat until all the mixture is used up.
Place in the fridge, they should keep for a few days in the fridge.
The truffles can also be frozen.

Really want to give a gift that means something?

Here are my TOP seven recipe books for Christmas gifts

Last week I spent a long lunch at a very smart designer hotel in London with four of my close friends.
Every year we pick a different venue based on food and style (these friends are all interior designers – my previous career)

We all exchange early Christmas presents which is a real treat, this year I was very pleased to receive a cookbook I hadn’t heard of but turned about to be a real find.
This inspired me to put together a list of beautifully designed, photographed and the icing on the carrot cake; super healthy cookery books.
As usual these are books I have on my bookshelf and have been road tested by me, I’m quite discerning!

So, roll over Jamie, Nigella, Heston and Gordon, these cooks and chefs are the real deal……

First up is a book I was recommended by Melissa from Evolution Organics over a cup of green tea.

Honestly Healthy by Natasha Corrett and Vicki Edgson (approx £12.80) is everything I want from a cookery book :

Easy to follow recipes, inspirational photography, great paper (it’s a designer touchy feely thing)

The premise behind the book is eating an alkaline way, our bodies to be in optimum condition want to be in a ph neutral state but many of the things we eat and experience conspire to make us too acidic. Therefore more susceptible to dis-ease.

Vicki and Natasha explain this in more detail and also include a cleanse to help people make the change. I’m hoping that most of you reading this are already eating greener and more alkaline anyway but it’s a great intro for friends and family who haven’t seen the green juice light!

Oh and the recipes? I’ve made most of them and they never fail to delight.

Indian Superfood and Indian Superspices both by Gurpareet Bains (approx £8.99 each)

I remember driving home one winter evening listening to Simon Mayo’s Drivetime show on BBC Radio 2 and salivating over the description over this amazing sounding Indian food that was being cooked on the show. The descriptions were of food so different from most of what I was used to in Indian Food, even when home cooked. I was hooked, they were cooking from Indian Superfood the first book by Chef Gurpareet Bains. I’ve cooked many a recipe from this first book, I’m definitely inspired by photographs and this book delivers. Indian Superfood also gives a run down of why each recipe is “super” If you get this book as a gift I recommend accompanying it with some Nigella Seeds (also known as black cumin seeds) I got mine online from an Asian grocery site, they are a wonder spice and in a lot of the recipes.

Gurpareet has followed this up with Indian Superspices which goes into much more detail what the spices can do for many a common illness like colds and insomnia

Zest for Life by Conner Middelmann Whitney (approx £9.99)

This book has been on my “go to” shelf for nearly eighteen months now since I was given the review in The Telegraph Newspaper. Conner has come up with the most tasty selection of Mediterranean inspired recipes, the bonus ? They are all anti-cancer inspired but oh so easy.

Unfortunately there aren’t any photos but Conner’s descriptions of each recipe are a credit to her.

She has plenty of photographs on her website Nutrelan.com to inspire further.

Veg by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (approx £12.50)

Well done to the previously confirmed meat eater Hugh on this book. The photography and matt paper gives this weighty book plenty of oo’s and ahhh’s and mmmmm I can’t wait to try thats.

Last Christmas we had the parsnip, date and orange salad for starters and it was fresh but warming and ideal before the main course (which by the way was local seabass)

The recipes are reliable to make and use seasonal ingredients in combination. Hugh even ventures into some juice recipes, but only a few so if you want to inspire someone you love to get juicing it has to be….

Funky Fresh Juice Book by Jason Vale (approx £15.99 amazon or £9.99 direct)

This is Jason’s first all colour, all photographs recipe book including more juice and smoothie recipes you could shake a stick at. I’m very proud to say that one of my recipes is also in the book in the Community Juice section of the book. There’s also a special section for kids so there’s no excuse not to get the whole family juicing. The recipes are clearly laid out with graphics on whether they require a juicer or a blender or sometimes both. Kris has done lots of very funky photography that emulates the vibe that Jason has.
If you really want to spoil someone this Christmas the ultimate gift would have to be one of the Juicemaster Retreats either in rustic Turkey or sophisticated Portugal.

There’s some great Christmas offers on the Juicemaster website, including the Funky Fresh Juice Book for just £9.99 don’t forget to click through from this site to get your extra 5% off.



Lastly I have waited several months for this book by one of my favourite wellness warriors to be published in the UK (it’s already available in the USA)

Crazy Sexy Kitchen by Kris Carr and Chef Chad Sarno (approx £13.29)

I’ve got the rest of Kris’s Crazy Sexy books, some to do with her brilliant way of tackling stage IV cancer with a determined and feisty attitude (I certainly get her) and some to do with the plant based whole food diet that I believe which we should all consider.

In conjunction with Saf restaurant’s chef Chad Sarno Kris has developed 150 recipes – that’s a a lot of cooking. Expect cool photography and unusual food ingredients – ones that we should be using though.

So far I’ve only cooked one recipe from the book which landed a couple of days ago and it got me using the stunning black beluga lentils that had been sat waiting patiently in my pantry. So far so good. I also love her Aztec smoothie as a great way to get greens into a “chocolate” smoothie.

I have links to these books on Amazon here which if you use will pay me a small percentage to give to my chosen charity Tamis Wish.
Alternatively go to a bricks and mortar bookstore and support your local community!

Still stuck for ideas?……….

You can’t go wrong with Green People‘s Christmas packages of organic, clean bodycare

Or the Ayurvedic skin products from Pukka – they don’t just do tea, did you know?

If you really want to spoil someone head over to Juicemaster and bag a juicer.

If you click through to these websites through verityslifestyle.com not only will you get presents your friends and family will actually thank you for with a genuine smile on your face but you’ll be helping me raise money for the charities Penny Brohn Cancer Centre and Yes to Life.

Happy Christmas

With love and light

Verity xx

Generally David, my husband in a million, goes into to see our daughter and within seconds I smile as I hear giggles emanating from across the landing. Our daughter has known little else but the “normal” that is me having secondary breast cancer. She was only 11 months old when I was diagnosed. If I’m lucky she’ll pop into my bedroom for a quick kiss and cuddle before accompanying David downstairs to let Snoopy our Spaniel out.

Snoopy then comes to visit me and we get some quality time whilst downstairs our juicer is in full swing. I started juicing over two years ago and have recently upgraded our juicer to a mega “Greenstar” masticating juicer. These are quite expensive but I found one on eBay and asked family and friends if they would give me money for my birthday this year. The first juicer I had I funded by selling a lot of my books on Amazon – there’s always a way!
David makes our daughter a juice first, and then he starts on our Ginger Shot (how naughty a “shot” in the morning!) made with apple, lemon and a big hunk of ginger WHOA! It’s like a shot of espresso without the caffeine. This is anti-inflammatory and alkalising.

We’ve got into a routine of my shot and Matcha green tea being brought up to me in bed – this goes back to the days of Chemo where I was finding it difficult to get up. This routine has stuck, and I must say it’s very enjoyable!

Next I hop in the shower and use only green organic toiletries. Since my hair fell out with my initial Chemo in the UK I’ve kept  my hair short and “elfin” like so a quick rub with a towel and I’m done. I put a special concoction of coconut oil and Roman Chamomile on the areas of my skin where there have been tumours in the bone as I believe that the Aspergine from the Chamomile sinks into me with part of the coconut oil. I also use this as a hair styling product!

Before breakfast I have some of my supplements that need to be taken before food. My breakfast always begins with a fresh green juice, mainly green vegetables with a small apple. We get most of our green leafy vegetables from my Mum who is an avid gardener and who took it upon herself to grow loads of organic stuff for us all.

After the juice has been made I pour it into the blender and add some Spirulina powder, frozen wheatgrass juice, coconut water, some broccoli sprouts and fresh Aloe Vera.

My taste buds have definitely changed over the past two years and I just don’t need sweetness anymore. We usually make enough juice for me to have some later in the day and also David to have some too – although he refuses the aloe, it’s quite an acquired taste!

If I’m still hungry I might join David and India in a boiled egg – from organic chickens my Mum & Dad keep, or some porridge with quinoa.

After breakfast we are usually in a hurry to get out of the door, me to take our daughter to pre-school and David to get out to his office in our garden or off to site as he has a landscaping company. At break neck speed I remember to take my morning supplements plus my one daily Letrazole aromatase inhibitor tablet.

After dropping our daughter to pre-school I’ll come back home and do some exercise, either rebounding (on a mini-trampoline), take Snoopy out for a walk, go to a Pilates class or go on our cross trainer. I make sure I exercise every day, it’s good to get the oxygen flowing around my body and also to be strong in my muscles and bones.
After my diagnosis of Breast cancer that had spread to my bones we realised that my back pain was caused by a collapsed vertebra. I later had bone cement injected into this area. My back is very strong now but it’s not quite as straight as it was so I have make sure that my muscles around my core are doing their job. Exercise along with our unprocessed diet ensures that I am lean and not carrying too much fat which would aid in the production of oestrogen which my variation of cancer feeds on.

Sometimes I might fit in a coffee enema and soon I’ll be using an ozone machine for 30 minutes every day so I’ll have to fit that in somewhere too!

Before picking up our daughter from pre-school at lunchtime I will go into our office and either sort out things for our cottage in Norfolk which we rent out when we aren’t there, or I’ll write something for my blog verityslifestyle.com.

Lunch at the moment is usually homemade soup which I like to make in large quantities and freeze or if it’s just me I will make a green smoothie with lots of leafy green vegetables, coconut water and some organic frozen berries and raw cacao.

More supplements after lunch and my favourite tea that I make with Japanese Green Sencha & Jasmine pearls.

In the afternoon I might take our daughter to ballet class or to visit friends. If I’ve got appointments for therapies like acupuncture or going to the GP for my monthly Zoladex injection to switch my hormones off I’ll drop our daughter off at my parents where she loves to be outside helping in the garden whatever the weather.

If I’ve been on my feet a lot I will take 15 minutes to lay flat to allow my spine to relax.

Nowadays I don’t need any pain relief, David tells me I have a high pain threshold but on the whole I don’t get any pain. I know I’m lucky and I don’t take it for granted.

I have treatment of Herceptin and Zometa (a bone strengthening drug) every 3 weeks, generally a nurse visits me at home to do this and since having a portacath fitted earlier this year having IV needles put in is a doddle. Every so often I have to visit my oncologist at The Royal Marsden in London. I believe I’ve got one of the best specialists in secondary breast cancer in the world in my team.

I always cook a fresh supper for our daughter; it’s the way I was brought up too.
After she’s had her bath and we’ve put her to bed I’ll start cooking supper for myself and David. Sometimes I’m organised and know exactly what I’m cooking, otherwise I freestyle it with what’s fresh in the fridge. That’s often when I come up with new recipes for my blog. If I have, then after supper I’ll write down the recipe and then if there’s some leftover I’ll plan to photograph it the next day.

David usually goes back out to the office after supper,  he’s running his own business and as he’s with me and my daughter more in the morning he then makes up for it later in the evening. We don’t watch TV anymore, we stopped just after my diagnosis,  it all just seemed so pointless. We sometimes watch a DVD but couldn’t watch TV as our set is so old it can’t receive digital!

I might chat to friends on the phone or facebook, write emails then off to bed with a cup of chamomile tea to read a book, usually by this time it’s an easy read novel or sometimes it’s one of the myriad of health and anti-cancer books I have.

I try to get my 8 hours rest every night, aided by a natural sleep remedy as sleep, good quality sleep is so important for me.

I don’t spend my day thinking “I have cancer” I focus on the positive things I do have and can do and try and inspire others to do the same and take control of their health and the way they live their lives.

I’ve been told that secondary cancer can’t be cured; only managed.

I’ve now come across many people who defy the so-called “statistics” and if my bossy, stubborn nature has got anything to do with it then I’ll be one of them.

In fact, no, I AM one of them.

I found the feeling coming to me was guilt.

Guilt. There it is again.

Guilt I hadn’t checked my breasts every month religiously.

Guilt my husband hadn’t noticed.
Here’s a good one, guilt that my adoring dog hadn’t picked up on my tumours – he’s a spaniel, isn’t that what they do?
(He’s sat at my feet right now and I love him more than words can say although we’ve renamed him “minor injuries dog”)
I had been breastfeeding my daughter, so my breasts and I were pretty good friends, still I hadn’t noticed. In a period from early to mid pregnancy breast cancer had evolved and metastasized into my bones collapsing a vertebrae and I had no idea what my back pain was until I found the lump in my breast over a year later.

Two years down the line from my initial diagnosis, which was breast cancer spread to my bones I have got rid of this guilt. I don’t blame myself or anyone else.

In a supremely bizarre way having the diagnosis was the biggest kick up my butt that I could have had. Perhaps the Universe saying “Verity you know you hate what you’re doing for a career, if you won’t listen to your heart and soul we’ll have to take drastic measures.”

So here I am blogging about anti-cancer food, lifestyle and having cancer and feeling passion for it, passion for life –

So please everyone do regularly check your breasts – put a reminder on your phone for every month. Take all the anti-cancer action in your lifestyle that you can.

If after all that you still develop cancer, don’t feel guilty.

Get empowered to turn something potentially devastating into something wonderfully inspiring.

Verity xx

ps If you know someone who’s recently been diagnosed with cancer, check out my friend Hollye’s spot-on take on what you should and shouldn’t say to them

http://www.thesilverpen.com/2012/10/03/breast-cancer-awareness-month-what-to-say-or-not-say/

Today its something a little spicy. I asked a couple of my favourite cookery writers/chefs what is their favourite way of using courgettes. Chef Gurpareet Bains’ favourite is a recipe from his cookbook “Indian Superfood” in the book it is called Chicken “Stew” with Yellow Split Peas and Courgettes.
Thank you to Gurpareet for allowing me to use this recipe.

Here I am replacing the Chicken with Cauliflower and making some small adjustments. You could also try butternut squash as another alternative – cutting it into bitesize chunks.

I like to sprout my lentils , this makes them more easily digestable. To sprout, soak lentils in water overnight in a large glass jar then drain the water off in the morning. Then either transfer to a sprouter or leave in the jar with some muslin or old tights tied to the opening and pop on your draining board at a 45 degree angle (approximate!)
Rinse with water once during the day and again the following day before using – you should see a little tail appear on the lentils/peas

To find out more about sprouting I suggest the Sprouting Handbook

Cauliflower “Stew” with yellow Split Peas and Courgettes

This recipe was adapted from “Indian Superfood” by Gurpareet Bains
Serves 4

210g dried Yellow Split Peas
1 large tomato finely chopped
¾ teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt
1 teaspoon Turmeric
2 tablespoons fresh ginger (finely chopped or grated)
5 Black cardamom pods, lightly crushed
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
1 litre of boiling water
1 x medium cauliflower, chopped into small florets
1 large courgette, cut into bitesize pieces

2 tablespoons Coconut Oil
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Nigella Seeds *
1 small onion
6 garlic cloves, smashed then finely chopped
2 – 6 green chillies, finely chopped
Handful of fresh Coriander, chopped to garnish

*Nigella seeds are also known as Black Cumin or Black Onion seeds, they are available from most Asian stores or I found mine online.

Place the yellow split peas, tomato, salt, turmeric, fresh ginger, cardamom pods and 1 teaspoon of the cumin seeds into a deep saucepan (preferably glass, stainless steel or Le Creuset type)
Add the water and mix well.
Heat until the water returns to a simmer, then cook, uncovered for 40 minutes.
Stir occasionally and add more water if the mixture becomes too sticky.

Add the courgettes and cauliflower and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

Whilst the lentil mixture is cooking spoon the coconut oil into a frying pan (stainless steel or Green Pan), add the black pepper, nigella seeds and remaining cumin seeds and cook over a medium heat until the seeds start to pop. This should take a few minutes.

Add the onion and fry until just turning golden.

Add the garlic and chillies and cook for a further 2-4 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Once the Yellow Split Peas are cooked, stir in the spice mixture from the frying pan and simmer for a few minutes.

Serve in warm bowls or plates topped with the chopped coriander.

Tip: This makes a great lunch – keep it warm in an insulated Tiffin Box